WASHINGTON – On the sixth anniversary of the Parkland school shooting, parents and former students joined lawmakers on Capitol Hill Wednesday for a bipartisan school safety effort.
March for Our Lives, the student-led movement focused on gun violence prevention, returned to Washington Wednesday morning.
The march at the Washington Monument featured a slate of speakers pushing for gun control – and marchers called on lawmakers and federal leaders to take action.
Among the reforms sought by the group are a ban on assault weapons used in most mass shootings, restrictions on high-capacity magazines and major changes to background checks.
The plan also includes requirements for silent panic alarms and funding for school resource officers.
Manuel Oliver, whose son Joaquin Oliver was among the 17 killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, attended the march with his wife Patricia. Both have been vocal gun reform advocates since the Feb. 14, 2018, shooting.
“The pain has not changed,” he said. “It hurts every single day, every second and that means we need to find ways to fight that pain.”
“The main message that I want to get out today is to support the families and people like Manuel Oliver and that’s the reason why I’m here today,” said former MSD student and shooting survivor David Hogg.
“Am I saying that all laws are perfect and that every gun law is going to prevent every shooting? No. But these laws do have an impact and they do save lives,” added Hogg.
The parents, who know what it’s like to not have their kids come home, are pleading with lawmakers to act quickly.
It comes as the nation saw nearly 700 mass shootings that claimed the lives of more than 43,000 people.
“Why do we need these mass events to get our attention?” asked South Florida Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), who represents Parkland. “If we can get accomplished what we did in Florida here in Congress, we would be mitigating gun violence all over this country.”